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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25734358">The Math Ain't Hard to Do</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuumai/pseuds/kuumai'>kuumai</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Gentron Week 2020 [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Voltron: Legendary Defender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Gen, POV Shiro (Voltron), Shiro (Voltron) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 11:07:53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,146</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25734358</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuumai/pseuds/kuumai</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Shiro spent a lot of time pretending that he was good at being an adult. In fact, he was keen to believe that he actually was a functioning adult a decent amount of the time. However, inadvertently acquiring a dog was not something that Shiro’s twenty-five years on Earth had prepared him to do.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Keith &amp; Shiro (Voltron)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Gentron Week 2020 [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1863325</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Gentronweek</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Math Ain't Hard to Do</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Prompt: Adopting a Pet Together</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Hey,” Keith called from the doorway to their apartment.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, Keith,” Shiro responded from where he was curled under a blanket on the sofa. “How was class?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fine,” Keith said quickly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shiro disentangled himself from his blanket and watched curiously as Keith tugged his shoes off and dropped his keys on the kitchen counter. He did not, however, immediately toss his backpack down by the door like usual.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was only when Keith passed by him to walk to his room that Shiro could see that his jeans were torn in both knees. “You’re hurt!” he exclaimed, jumping up from the couch. “What happened?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Keith froze and lifted his hands to grip the straps of his backpack, as if Shiro might suddenly dart over and snatch it away from him. “I hit a rock on the way home and flew over my handlebars.” He let go of the backpack and opened his palms toward Shiro, and Shiro took both hands in his so he could look at them more closely. The heel of each glove had frayed slightly. “For once the gloves came in handy,” Keith added with a smile.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shiro put his hand on Keith’s shoulder and ushered him toward his room. “Okay, go put shorts on. I’ll get bandages.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Keith rolled his eyes but went to his room regardless.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As he changed, Shiro went to the kitchen and searched the cabinet that housed the medical supplies. By the time he found all he needed, Keith reappeared at his side. His knees were scraped up, but not badly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He handed Keith a tube of some off-brand cream. “Put this on the scrapes.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Keith did so and wiped his hands on the towel by the sink. Shiro gave him the bandages one at a time and watched as Keith’s foot tapped against the ground at an impressive tempo. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Did something happen?” Shiro asked once Keith was done putting on the bandages. “You’re….” He eyed Keith’s fingers, which began to drum against his thigh. “Jittery.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, nothing happened,” Keith said, scratching his nose, which meant he was lying. He leaned against the counter and away from Shiro.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Right,” Shiro said, letting sarcasm drip into his tone. Keith looked around the room at everything except Shiro, and Shiro dropped the sarcastic tone. “You can tell me if this wasn’t actually an accident,” he said, motioning in the general direction of Keith’s knees. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know,” Keith replied earnestly. “It really was an accident.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Despite how weird Keith was acting, Shiro was inclined to believe him. These didn’t look like wounds that came from someone else’s animosity; Shiro was quite familiar with seeing those on Keith, but Keith hadn’t been in a fight with anyone in a long time.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why don’t we watch a movie or something?” Shiro said finally, wandering in the direction of the couch. “You’ve been out a lot recently. I feel like I barely see you. You can pick the movie. I’ll order pizza later.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Keith shifted from foot to foot “I was planning on doing homework tonight.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s Friday. And the afternoon.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I want to get a head start.” Keith stiffened, turning defensive. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shiro deflated with a sigh. “Okay.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“For real, Shiro.” Keith smiled. “Calc is just kicking my butt, which is nothing new.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shiro returned the smile. “Have fun doing math.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I most definitely will not.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As Keith turned to retreat to his bedroom, his door seemed to let out an odd, yipping noise.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Huh. Did the neighbors get a new dog?” Keith asked in a definitely casual, not at all suspicious tone. He resumed walking toward his room at a faster pace. “Well, I’d better get to work—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wait,” Shiro interrupted, and Keith froze. “Normally I’d say that you’re entitled to keeping whatever secrets you want from me, but I’m fairly sure our neighbors didn’t get a dog, and you’re not a very good liar, and I’d rather not get in trouble with the landlord for not paying the pet fee.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Keith sighed. “Promise you won’t get angry,” he said, looking Shiro in the eye.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That was an easy condition; it was Keith talking. “I promise.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Keith gave him one last look, then beckoned Shiro toward his room. Shiro followed him inside, and on the end of Keith’s bed was none other than a puppy, curled atop an old t-shirt. At the sight of Keith, it’s tail began thumping against the shirt.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shiro gaped. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You promised,” Keith said quickly, glaring at him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, yeah, I’m not mad,” Shiro replied. “I’m, like… baffled. How did you… what?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Keith relaxed his shoulders, but only slightly. “He darted in front of me on my way home,” he explained. “I veered out of the way and fell off my bike, and for some reason he came closer to me instead of running off. I brought him home in my backpack.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“In your backpack?” Shiro asked, still eyeing the small, blond puff on Keith’s bed. “Is that safe? For the dog, I mean.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t know!” Keith threw his hands up defensively. “I figured it was safer than leaving him there alone. I couldn’t find his parents, and he doesn’t have a collar, and—and—” He gestured toward the dog. “Look at how small he is!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re lucky he didn’t pee all over your backpack.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Shiro!” Keith exclaimed, exasperated.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sorry, sorry,” Shiro responded. Keith didn’t always appreciate Shiro using humor to cope. “I… I guess we should take it to a vet?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shiro spent a lot of time pretending that he was good at being an adult. In fact, he was keen to believe that he actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> a functioning adult a decent amount of the time. However, inadvertently acquiring a dog was not something that Shiro’s twenty-five years on Earth had prepared him to do. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>According to the vet they visited, the puppy was healthy, if malnourished, and was around three months old. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shiro asked coworkers and neighbors if they knew someone who was missing their pet puppy, but no one did. It was seeming more and more likely that this was a stray dog, and that Keith was getting more and more attached. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Also the Holts. And Lance. And Hunk. Everyone was getting attached. The dog was quite popular.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pidge and Matt came over often to give tips on potty-training and teething, as they were well-practiced from training Bae Bae. At least, that was the excuse they gave. Shiro didn’t bother to mention that the Holts adopted Bae Bae when the two of them were definitely too young to learn much about raising animals. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You come visit way more often now than you ever did before we got the dog,” Shiro commented one evening as he and Matt sat on the couch and observed Pidge and Keith lay on the floor and entertain the puppy. “It’s almost as if you like him more than me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I mean….” Matt shrugged, smiling playfully.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shiro shoved at Matt’s shoulder.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?” Matt asked, laughing. “You said it, not me!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>At least when Lance and Hunk came to visit, it was under no false pretenses. Keith told them that it could overwhelm the dog to meet so many new people, but the dog seemed nothing but overwhelmingly happy to see them whenever they dropped by. Which was good, because nothing was stopping those men from coming to play with him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We can’t keep calling him ‘the dog,’” said Lance, using the plural first person as if it were his dog.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We can’t name him. He’s not even our dog,” said Shiro, fighting a losing battle.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We can’t name him. I’m waiting for him to tell me his name,” said Keith, completely seriously.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” Lance said to both of them. “We should call him Kosmo.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A few nights later, a fire truck drove by the apartment complex, sirens blaring. Keith slept through it. Shiro and the dog did not.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Shiro stumbled out of his bedroom, the truck was long gone, but he could hear the sirens echoing in his head as if it were right outside.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The dog pawed loudly at the crate, and Shiro struggled to open it with his shaking hands for a few seconds before thinking better of it. He left the dog, who was whining anxiously, and returned to his bedroom, even though on nights like this his room made him feel trapped.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Once inside, he leaned against his closed door, slid to the floor, and sat there until he stopped trembling.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was abundantly clear that, if the puppy did have an original owner, they weren’t going to step up and say anything. And that Keith and all his friends would be heartbroken if they found another home for Kosmo. And that Shiro was turning into the villain in this story. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’ve literally kept him for multiple weeks now!” Keith yelled fervently at him across the kitchen. “I don’t understand why you’re so insistent on not keeping him permanently!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We still might find the original owner. I know he didn’t have a collar when you found him, but he was pretty well fed, and he wasn’t scared of people, so he probably—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Probably had a previous owner, I know,” said Keith. “And they probably got rid of him because they didn’t want him anymore. Or were passing through town and lost him and didn’t bother to look for him for very long.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shiro leaned back against the counters and squeezed the bridge of his nose. “Taking care of a dog is a big responsibility.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know that,” Keith said, clearly growing exasperated. Kosmo padded around Keith’s feet, worried by the yelling. “I’ve already told you that he’ll be my dog. I was planning on doing most of my classes online this semester anyway, so you won’t be at home alone with him much. And now that I’m working part-time—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m not worried about the financial aspect,” Shiro interrupted. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kosmo had evidently moved on from Keith, because all of a sudden he was nudging Shiro’s calf. Shiro flinched. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Keith stared at him, surprised. “You’re—are you scared of him? I didn’t think you were scared of dogs.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m not,” Shiro replied, crossing his arms and leaning more heavily against the counter. Inwardly he cursed how jumpy he was from the previous night. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Then what is it?” Keith asked. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I….” He stared down at Kosmo, who was watching him innocently from the tiled floor. “I can’t be responsible for a living thing.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I mean it in the nicest way possible when I say that that is the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever said.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m serious!” Shiro exclaimed. “If I… space out and do something that can put someone in danger, you can protect yourself, but Kosmo can’t.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Shiro,” Keith said, low and serious, and Shiro was startled into looking across the room at him. “You’ve never harmed anyone, even on accident, and you’re not going to now. You’re not… dangerous.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Crouching, Keith beckoned Kosmo toward him and ran his hands through the dog’s fur.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We can keep the crate in my bedroom instead of out here, if that would make you more comfortable,” Keith said, now avoiding Shiro’s eyes. “I just… I can’t… </span>
  <em>
    <span>abandon</span>
  </em>
  <span> him.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shiro took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “Okay,” he said, nodding. “Okay.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The following weekend, Lance and Hunk and Pidge came over for movie night with Keith, and somehow Shiro was roped into joining them instead of working, because “You work too much, Shiro, come on, you need a break.” Hunk’s words.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So they decided to watch some superhero movie—Shiro never could keep track of all of the superhero names, about which Matt constantly badgered him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Anyway, he sat on the couch next to Keith and enjoyed the movie as much as one can enjoy a part of a series when they haven’t seen the previous parts. He did respect that the movie portrayed the main character having trauma from whatever things happened in the previous movies, which Shiro imagined not many other superhero movies do. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Around halfway through, the main character fought a woman with powers that made her eyes and cheeks glow red, and someone spilled lighter fluid across the floor, and the whole building went up in flames.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Watching movies with fires didn’t make Shiro totally freak out, which he didn’t really understand. Waking up to sirens made him shake uncontrollably, but seeing a fire on a TV screen wasn’t that scary. Nonetheless, his heart rate does pick up a bit.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He didn’t think he looked outwardly anxious, and everyone else was completely absorbed in the movie, but Kosmo got up from where he was dozing on Pidge’s lap and came to lick at Shiro’s ankles.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shiro scratched Kosmo’s head. It was comforting, a little.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So maybe Shiro had grown attached too.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He found he wasn’t that mad about it.</span>
</p>
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